July 24, 2008
by Philip A Farruggio
I was riding my bicycle throughout my community on a hot, yet sky blue sunny Saturday morning. It must have been before 9 AM, usually a quiet time, especially for traffic. This morning, however, cars ( mostly big, gas eating SUVs ) were whizzing on by me wherever I pedaled. Then I realized it: it was a garage sale Saturday morning! Crowds were assembling at various driveways, parading like flocks of cripples to Lourdes...... Scurrying to and fro from garage sale to garage sale.... Looking for bargains!
Ninety minutes later, I stood on the corner I now stand on each and every Saturday morning. Lucky am I to attract 3 or 4 kindred spirits to stand with me. We hold our signs protesting the occupation of Iraq..... Demanding impeachment hearings and ' Not one more day, not one more dollar... For a Lie! '
It seems, by most of the polls taken, that a majority of Americans agree with many of our street corner positions. Yes, we do get more honks than middle fingers or thumbs down. Yet, no one ever parks and stands with us..... never! Then I think back and I wonder how many of those garage sale shoppers agree with my friends and I.
They seem to find the time to burn $ 4.00 a gallon seeking bargains so early on a Saturday- yet they refuse to stand for but 30 minutes expressing their freedom of speech in defending our constitution. Don't get me wrong- I love the concept of garage sales and farmer's markets and consignment shops. To me, that is what made America. As this economy tanks more and more.....
Well, garage sales and farmers markets will become a necessity for many of us.
As to the title of this column..... Where would Jesus stand on all of this? Of course, we who feel as we do about right and wrong and the constitution and our republican democracy, we kind of theorize that Jesus would be out there standing with us each Saturday morning. He might even be preaching from the corner about '
As you do to the least of mine you do unto me '. Maybe he would remind the drivers who honk and wave, but never stop and park: ' The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak ' . Or to those who defend this current system that is dividing our nation into haves and have nots: ' Easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to go to heaven' .
One wonders, would Jesus agree with John Yoo ( CO author of the protocols legitimizing what many call torture ) and the current Attorney General , who dances around the legality of bringing someone to a near drowning state? Jesus would not focus so much on the legalities , rather if such conduct is morally or spiritually acceptable.
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To those who would argue that Jesus also stated : ' Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and unto God what is God's', well, let us listen to Vincent Bugliosi. He had successfully prosecuted Charles Manson and his minions , and is considered to be a conservative thinker. Bugliosi has written a new book, The Prosecution of George Bush, in which he makes the case for a war crimes indictment against our president- a case Buglisoi would love to personally prosecute himself.
John Dean, another conservative thinker, feels the same way about this president, this vice president, and most of their inner circle: Liars..... Deceivers ..... Crony capitalists..... Possibly War Criminals . When the Bush crew stare into the cameras and dare to ' God Bless America ' and continually refer to Jesus as one's role model.... And then to orchestrate such atrocities ..... Sad !
Perhaps Jesus would do as he did in the temple that day in Jerusalem..... When he chased out the money changers and animal sacrificers with a cord. Perhaps he would do the same inside the White House.... And even the Congress, where a large enough majority still funds the disgrace and refuses to investigate it!
Finally, methinks Jesus would also have an open mind about the economics of society. Is not one way we mortals can achieve ' points of light from heaven ' but through more sharing of our resources, both natural and personal?
Could Jesus justify how one person can obtain $ 30 or $ 40 million a year at some company, while the workers struggle to earn $ 7.00 or even $ 10.00 an hour? Could Jesus remain silent while Big Oil earns record profits while most of us have trouble filling our gas tanks? Could Jesus remain silent while Big Banks bleed millions through sub prime scams and shylock credit card charges?
How about this: Since we are in perhaps the worst economic crisis in over 70 years, why not have our government do the simplest thing: Nationalize the oil companies and big banks. Do onto them what they have done for decades. They takeover ( competing companies ) , so take them over! Pay a fair price, get rid of the profit and the fat cat salaries, and run these companies to first serve we the people. Imagine if the government ran the major banks, the ones issuing mortgages and credit cards.
Factor in about maybe 3% for overhead.... And that is what a mortgage and credit card interest charge would be- 3%! Think of how many folks could A) buy a home instead of having to pay rent and B) get out of this foreclosure mess. As far as Big Oil, well, not being an economist, I would venture to state that without profits, our current gasoline costs would be lowered by probably $ 1.00 a gallon. Not enough to solve our long term problems, yet enough to help somehow. Plus, with the government AKA the Public owning the oil industry, perhaps more revenue would go into R&D for alternative sources of energy..... Green solutions.
The next time we on the corner intuitively sense the presence of Jesus near us, perhaps he might even add a few more tidbits. Maybe he would suggest that our utility companies be nationalized too. Hey, a ' dollar here, a dollar there ', it all adds up, yes?
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Philip A Farruggio [send him email] is a free lance columnist, small businessman and activist. Since the 2000 elections, he has had over 90 columns posted on various websites and in many newspaper op-ed sections. To review some which have been shown, just google his name.
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